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The other Marius: the tale of a three day Gallic emperor/blacksmith


Ryro

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Heads up; this is NOT about the Novus Homo, or New man, 7 time council, Rome's greatest and most innovative general (to that point), uncle of Julius Caesar, teacher turned nemesis of Sulla, and all around badass who turned the Republic on its head, Gauis Marius.

Gaius-Marius-engraving-Ruins-of-Carthage-John-1842.jpg.450e396d1e72210f50d5ab208545efef.jpg

(Sorry, you WON'T be reading about this all around stud, who invented Marius' mules- this innovator was the first to create a standing army, loyal to their general, for Rome!)

...Ours is the barely known by history,  Gallic blacksmith, who walked ass backwards into the purple, known as Marcus Aurelius Marius. He was supposedly only "in office" for two or three days. Though, more likely two or three months, due to the amount of coins he was able to produce (not that there's a lot) and fact that he had time to relocate to Trier before Victorinus had him cut down. He was, also supposedly, killed by one of the swords that he himself made!

gallic-bas-reliefs-found-at-entremont-near-aix.jpg.b721a0bb075fd09fce3794c573e0edf0.jpg

Not much else is known about him other than how he came to power;

After Postumus was murdered by his own troops at Moguntiacum, for apparently not letting them loot and pillage, Marius (possibly accidently), an officer, was proclaimed emperor!?

Which brings me to my new coin. Despite the lettering going off flan I am very happy with the portrait (very Postumus-esque) and crisp reverse:

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Marius. Antoninianus. 269 AD. Trier. (Ric-V 2.7 Ticinum). Anv.: IMP C MARIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right. Rev.: CONCORDIA MILITVM, clasped hands. Ae. 2,75 g. Almost VF/VF. Purchased from Tauler & Fau 

 

Modern update: here's a reconstruction of his appearance from the sources descriptions of him:

Screenshot_20230310_165758_Google.jpg.e67a00c23a56bec5f83c518eab3c19ff.jpg

And then:

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Some of the other Gallic emperors:

Postumus 

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Areolus (supposedly under Postumus)

Screenshot_20200919-170836_PicCollage-removebg-preview.png.e4c52250982780e7a353a509e8eb7d4e.png

Victorinus

IMG_0235.PNG.69eb8d4241ebc8010a2499ca8e65889e.PNG

Tetricus l

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Tetricus ll

Screenshot_20200919-191325_PicCollage-removebg-preview.png.a1d150380d9b84a987aacd06e262b059.png

 

You know you've got Gallic emperors to share, Marius, short lived emperors. And we'd like to see them or anything you'd like.

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3 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Cool!  Congratulations!  I have no coins of Marius.

My only Gallic coin of note is this Sestertius.  I just love the portrait.

iYK3it7F4Tr8As2DpZF8Q5aDxp6CW9.jpg.e2b0e70be1719638ad42b9c5dccc7e4f.jpg

 

Thanks! And that portrait is intense!!

giphy.gif.b161856924bcf69bfc605e051f8574de.gif

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Great coin! I don’t have a Marius yet and am jello.

Oh… and WHAT is up with that RED Victorinus?! Is it really that color in hand?! If so, very cool color! 

Not to side track the thread but this is my reddest coin:

MaximinusIIRIC139b.jpg.f94fce70ed8f52d6943961fbd8dd35b1.jpg

…and here is my closest to Marius coin… a Victorinus with the features of Marius:

VictorinusCologneRIC41-126.JPG.49718d785184ca3a9f721b50cc20487e.JPG

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I seem to have acquired more than my fair share of Marius coins.....

Obv:– IMP C MARIVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– CONCORD MILIT, Clasped hands.
Minted in Cologne
Reference– RIC 6; Hunter 3; Schulzki 1b; Elmer 633.

Found in Poundbury, Dorset in 1986
3.41 g. 19.99 mm. 180 degrees

RI_117b_img.jpg

Obv:– IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VICTO[RI]A AVG, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm frond.
Minted in Trier
Reference– RIC 17. Schulzki 7b, Elmer 638, Cunetio 2509

Found in Poundbury, Dorset in 1986
2.30 g. 20.74 mm. 0 degrees

RI_117a_img.jpg

Uneven strike

2.78 g. 21.35 mm. 0 degrees

RI_117f_img.JPG

Obv:– IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VICTORIA AVG, Victory advancing right, holding wreath and palm.
Minted in Cologne
Reference– RIC 18. C. 20. Elmer 636. AGK 6 a.

Lots of silvering. Worn reverse die.

Found in Poundbury, Dorset in 1986
2.62 g. 21.13 mm. 180 degrees

RI_117c_img.jpg

2.85 g. 20.33 mm. 180 degrees

RI_117d_img.JPG

2.84 g. 19.70 mm. 0 degrees

RI_117e_img.JPG

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@Ryro...That's a great looking coin!..Nice portrait and really cool reverse...Congrats on a neat addition to your collection!...Didn't know you had such an artistic gift😉.

My only Marius...

20191113_ne.jpg.9c54ae9e731159ca9e451d8432396c04.jpg

MARIUS. Romano-Gallic Emperor, 269 AD.
Obverse..IMP CM AVR MARIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse..VICTORIA AVG, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm.
RIC#17...Mint Trier?

And my only other Gallic Emperor..

postumus2.jpg.cd66ed57e92696344deb602251f9bad7.jpg

Postumus, Antoninianus, 260-269, Trier, , Billon 21MM
Obverse- Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG
Reverse- Serapis standing left, raising hand & holding sceptre; prow at his feet to left SERAPI COMITI AVG
RIC-329 Trier mint (AD 267)

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Just one purple-ish  example

6232d9ee5aa44a95b9daba015752dedd.jpg

Marius, Antoninianus - Mint #2 : Köln or Mainz
MP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
VICT - ORIA AVG, Victory walking left, holding wreath and palm
3,2 gr
Ref : RIC # 17, RCV # 11124, Cohen # 21 (20Fr), Schulzki 7a

Q

 

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